INDONESIA Landslide on the Natuna Islands, 48 ​​dead

The tragedy occurred after six days of heavy rain that disrupted communication lines. For this reason, the news is coming a week late. Thousands of people have not yet been evacuated. The local Church has sent first aid, but the area where the disaster occurred is very remote.

Jakarta () – Forty-eight people have died so far due to an avalanche that occurred in Serasan, in the Natuna Islands, an archipelago of 272 islands in the South China Sea that is administratively part of the Riau Islands province . It is a territory that is a few days away from the island of Sumatra.

On March 6, after six days of torrential rains, rubble and sediment buried houses and people: in addition to 48 deaths, there are thousands of displaced people, according to the spokesman for the Natura district, Patli Muhamad, declared today. “At least 2,835 people are still seeking refuge” in one of the six emergency shelters spread across the island, the official added.

Following the avalanche, the Natuna Regency administration announced that it would have relocated up to 100 families to new homes, although the evacuation is still ongoing despite various technical difficulties, the spokesperson explained. Indeed, the collapse damaged the communications infrastructure, making difficult the already complicated rescue work. This is also the reason why the news about the accident is coming out a week late.

The high number of fatalities is due to the fact that several people were on a slope while trying to clear the area of ​​the rubble carried by the rains of the previous days. “The landslide occurred when many people were working,” said Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation and Management Agency. “Improved weather conditions in recent days have helped the search and evacuation process.”

talking today with From the island of Natuna, Father Agus Tarnanu, priest of the diocese of Pangkalpinang, explained that “the town of Serasan, the most affected town, is very far from both Pangkalpinang -capital of Riau Kepri province- and from my church Natuna parish church. Serasan sub-district is much closer to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province, from where it takes six hours by boat to reach” (see map).

So far no victim belonging to the Catholic community has been reported. “The diocese of Pangkalpinang, through the parish church of Saint Paul, has already made a first shipment of humanitarian aid to Serasan,” the priest added.